About the School

Location: The school is located in an urban neighborhood on the east edge of Puerto Plata, right along the shore, called Padre Granero.

School History: Before the 2006/2007 school year, there was no school in the community of Padre Granero set up to serve the Haitian immigrant population. Hundreds of children walked around the streets aimlessly each day. Others street vended or shined shoes to generate income. Project Esperanza began serving the Puerto Plata community in the summer of 2006 by conducting a street census. The majority of the children working on the streets lived in the community of Padre Granero. When Project Esperanza leadership returned in November 2006, children in the program that had begun that summer introduced them to a group of teachers who had begun a school in their church to serve this population. The two groups found a common mission and Project Esperanza began sending funds to pay teachers in December 2006.

By the next school year, Project Esperanza had purchased books, tables, chairs, and began helping out with rent payments. Things went well until 2009 when the U.S. economy declined and funding became more difficult. The inconsistent teacher payments brought out conflict and politics among the teachers. This ended in a school split, causing there to be two schools in the community of Padre Granero. This was not problematic as the community is full of children. 

In 2016, Project Esperanza purchased an old carpentry shop in order to meet the requirement of the Ministry of Education that the school building be owned, not rented. Slowly it has been rennovated and currently has 9 classrooms where around 175 students receive a bilingual educationin Spanish and Haiti Creole.   

School Layout/Schedule:

• Pre-school through 8th grade
• Ages 3-18
• 8am to 1pm 
• Monday through Friday
• co-ed
• Follows the Dominican Ministry of Education calendar which runs from mid-August to mid-June
• An English immersion summer camp is run every summer from late June to early August. 
• Teacher workshops and preparation starts in early August. 

Monthly Budget:

Mortgage payment - $740

Teacher salaries - $2,692

Materials - $75

Meals - $500

Cleaning - $110

Total - $4,117